Brooklyn Borough President

BOROUGH PRESIDENT LEADS BROOKLYN TENANTS TO ALBANY

Demands Gov. Pataki & State Senate Renew, Strengthen and Expand Rent Regulations

Photograph by Kathryn Kirk
	In photo: Borough President Markowitz addresses the crowd in Albany

On May 13th, Borough President Marty Markowitz brought busloads of Brooklynites to Albany to join with the New York State Tenants & Neighbors Coalition, thousands of tenants and other elected officials at the State Capitol to save and strengthen rent regulations. Borough President Markowitz is demanding that Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and the State Senate pass legislation – already approved by the State Assembly – to renew, strengthen and expand rent regulations that cover more than one million New York apartments – including almost 285,000 in Brooklyn. Borough President Markowitz says the time to act is right now.

“We cannot let these critical rent protection laws expire on June 15th. But renewing them is not enough,” Borough President Markowitz said. “We must also expand and strengthen rent regulations. Affordable housing is something I’ve been fighting for my entire career, and I will continue to do everything I can to make sure every Brooklynite has a safe and affordable place to live. If rent regulations continue to be weakened, New York City will eventually lose all of its rent stabilized and rent controlled units within ten years. Without this and stronger protection, people will continue losing their homes, which will rip apart communities. And Brooklyn would pay an enormous price.”

Brooklyn has the highest number of renters in the city, and 145,000 renter households spend at least half of their income on housing. Borough President Markowitz strongly believes we must do everything we can to preserve the affordable housing we already have. For example, 33,000 affordable Mitchell-Lama rental units will be lost due to buyouts. Common sense dictates that it is much cheaper to preserve and retain affordable housing units than to build new ones.